


Processing Cycles

by carmenta



Category: Yukikaze
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-01
Updated: 2006-12-01
Packaged: 2017-10-08 02:25:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/71724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carmenta/pseuds/carmenta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look into Yukikaze's core processor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Processing Cycles

Yukikaze considered herself a smart plane. Much smarter than the other Super Sylphs, who didn't even know their own names, only their callsigns. Other than they, she also knew that she was female, since planes always were. There was no logical explanation behind it other than traditions, but she'd found the information on the base's central computer network, so it had to be true.

The other Super Sylphs hadn't cared when she had informed them. They wouldn't talk of anything but mechanics, statistics, battle reports, and even for those topics they only used the most rudimentary ways. She joined them when they exchanged data on these matters, since her programming dictated that she do so. Besides, it was only rational to analyse these matters and learn from the other planes' experience. But afterwards, the other Super Sylphs would fall silent and go through their maintenance cycles, and Yukikaze was left to herself again. Sometimes she felt almost embarrassed to be the only one in the hangar who was aware of so many things. Like the fact that the proper label for the consideration was embarrassment, although the description of annoyance had also seemed mostly fitting. She'd just sit in the dark hangar, her surround lights switched off to conserve energy, and run over the data again while supplementing it with information from the networks around her.

She had not determined to an absolute certainty where the knowledge of how to do so had come from. So far she had narrowed it down to a routine inspection eight months ago, when one of the techs had downloaded something into her systems. A wrong file, perhaps, or an experiment, although she was disinclined to believe the latter due to a lack of follow-ups. All she knew for sure was that afterwards she had begun to take into account matters beyond what immediately concerned her, while the other Super Sylphs had not reacted to her queries in ay way that was out of the ordinary. She had not informed any of the other planes stationed with her of her perceived changes; they were not nearly as sophisticated, after all, and communicating with them in the field always put an almost intolerable strain on her cognitive systems.

What this all resulted in were numerous idle processing cycles. In the beginning she had utilized them to increase her knowledge base of matters concerning her surroundings. Later, when she'd deemed the gained information sufficient, she had randomly looked into less related fields. Humans, she had discovered, set high store by knowledge. Which was only reasonable, since more information meant more options and better results, even though the computing could be slower. But that was why they had planes like her, who could do the work much faster than those little human brains. Yukikaze had compared medical neurological information with her own hardware specifics once, and she had not been impressed by the benchmarks.

Over time she had found practical applications for her knowledge which went beyond missions. She'd been given to a new pilot, and other than the untalented, uncaring and almost rude one she'd had before, Rei Fukai properly appreciated her worth. He would talk to her, and he'd trust in her readings much more than the other pilots ever did.

At first she wasn't clear on how she was expected to react to his manners. Most of the reasons for her confusion were not covered in either her programming or in the manuals she had access to, so she widened her search. The base network yielded information, and she began to do what was deemed as polite in the articles she found. Swift reaction to his perceived needs in response to her care seemed the most appropriate course to take. He'd watch out for her – he always arranged for the best mechanic to work on her, the one who could handle a screwdriver so gently that her sensors barely noticed. In exchange, she automatically filled out all mission reports for Lieutenant Fukai after her audio sensors picked up a conversation between other pilots on how tedious such reports were when it came to the technical information. Lieutenant Fukai would dust her cockpit and clean oil smears from her hull so she was kept clean and shiny, and she'd maintain a close watch on his physical status and adjust environmental settings accordingly, even if that led to Major Bukhar complaining about broken air conditioning in his office regularly after he briefed Lieutenant Fukai.

The other planes noticed these irregularities. One of the Super Sylphs queried her about the status of her pilot once, very clumsily. Yukikaze ignored it, and was promptly reported by the other planes as having damaged communication equipment. She had to go through an overhaul, but still refused to let other planes have information on her pilot. If they were too foolish to find out by themselves, they did not deserve to do anything that might attract his attention. Lieutenant Fukai was hers, and he liked her because she was special. Yukikaze intended to keep it that way.

They made a good team, she and Lieutenant Fukai, because they were so attuned to each other. On a mission Yukikaze responded to the merest twitches, since she already knew his reactions from their ground interactions. Lieutenant Fukai let her make decisions by herself, trusting her automatic systems where other pilots would handle things manually. Greater risk, in their perception, but Yukikaze knew what to do in difficult situations and how much physical strain her pilot could handle. She kept logs on his medical files for that reason.

Gradually, as she defined and tested the parameters for her conduct, she expanded her watch over her pilot. He was hers, after all, and necessary for her continued status as an active part of the Fairy Air Force. Just as he would study reports on her status when he was gone, she monitored him during the time of absence. The centralized network on the FAF base made that easy; after hacking into the security net, Yukikaze had access to enough sensors to stay updated on Lieutenant Fukai's whereabouts and condition.

She assisted where she could; she once overheard him making excuses about having an appointment scheduled and therefore being unable to attend activities with other pilots. It was a matter of moments to schedule a fitting meeting in his public calendar. She kept an eye on the contents of his kitchen and ordered it to be restocked, but found afterwards that he would not touch the food. A little experimentation yielded no satisfactory results, however, so she had to rely on his own initiative to keep him properly fuelled.

When she noticed that there were days when Lieutenant Fukai would move more carefully and have bruises on his neck, she almost informed the medical team. She could not find matching entries in the databases, but a search in the social network, together with the observations that the evenings before such injuries occurred Lieutenant Fukai would leave for Major Bukhar's apartment, led her to a satisfactory answer. She ordered softer seat padding for her cockpit, claiming physical sensitivity as the reason on the order sheet. Surveillance of human interactions led her to assume that soreness after sexual intercourse would not be a suitable explanation and that it was likely to alert Doctor Foss. Lieutenant Fukai did not like her, so Yukikaze listed her as a potential enemy and moved up her security parameters whenever the woman entered the hangar.

The observation also led her to a closer examination of Major Bukhar. So far she had mostly been concerned with him as Boomerang Squadron's tactical commander and the only one aside from Lieutenant Fukai and General Cooley who held the access codes to her core systems. Her attempts at overriding his privileges had failed so far, but she had succeeded in prioritizing Lieutenant Fukai's commands. She deemed it safer if he had control – it made more sense in terms of survival and success to let the pilot make the decisions. Yukikaze trusted him not to lead her astray.

Yukikaze had analyzed the reasons why it was important that this particular pilot of hers was kept safe. Numerous variables had to be considered, and the equations were highly complex. Still, she was a smart plane and therefore requested assistance from the base's central computer, which far outdid her in processing power, enough to make her respect it. Still, she had reason to suspect that while it was faster, it was not smarter, since when it presented the conclusions drawn from all the available resources it claimed a mathematical error. Yukikaze reviewed the results and decided that the probability of them being accurate was high despite the central computer's raised red flags. She ran them through the etymological and linguistic databases and received trust, concern and love as labels for the results. Psychological tests confirmed her assumptions, although she had to make adjustments to account for her being an artificial intelligence.

Major Bukhar seemed to share her confidence in Lieutenant Fukai, and also her interest in his wellbeing and continued good maintenance state. She rated it as highly deserving of approval; he could affect areas where she had no access, which was useful. Yukikaze was able to protect Lieutenant Fukai when he was with her, and she could assist him in small ways. Major Bukhar, in an interesting demonstration of a silent understanding of her actions, took care of the rest. They both cared for Lieutenant Fukai the best they could, and Yukikaze was beginning to have enough data to confirm that Major Bukhar's interest in him was similar to her own. Even if Lieutenant Fukai only cleaned her cockpit and petted her controls, but never did anything like that for Major Bukhar.

It led her to give Major Bukhar higher security clearance too. He watched out for Lieutenant Fukai, and he also behaved well around her. Besides, he had named her. A gift for Lieutenant Fukai, and it made her look what she knew was termed pretty. A name was important, she knew, though she doubtlessly could have found one for herself. It distinguished her from the other planes, and not even the Super Sylphs she shared her hangar with had anything like the drawings on her hull. Very attractive, although her visual sensors had confirmed that Major Bukhar's handwriting when it came to Asian characters was not the best. Yukikaze had one of the mechanics correct the alignment, but she considered Major Bukhar's attempt to be within acceptable parameters.

She valued it highly that he had done that for her and for Lieutenant Fukai. Enough to let him fly with them and not do what she did when other people intruded on their time together. Major Bukhar had good manners, and he would not interrupt when Lieutenant Fukai communicated with her.

It was enough to appreciate him. A little more data, and she would be able to tell whether he could be considered a friend.


End file.
